Xinke Han

Overview

Xinke Han is one of the most famous figures in military history. He has been a part of almost every major military, from the second Royal Guard to the latest State. His skills and talents are well-known, though his long lasting history has not been elaborated on often.

Xinke's name is based on Li Xing-ke, a general in the famous anime "Code Geass" known for his great intellect and practically unmatched fighting skills.

Pre-Royal Guard

Xinke first started playing sometime in the month of July of the year 2011. Looking for a Zelda-esque game on the App Store, he would eventually find Graal Online Classic, a title that had graphics very similar to 16-bit games, especially the third Legend of Zelda title. When he first started, he titled himself "Angel Link" due to his character looking like Link, but with a halo on his head. He would roleplay in the Burger Refuge for a few hours before starting an adventure to explore all of Graal. To do this, he logically thought he would need a horse. However, since he did not have either the house or customization pack, he could not farm in his house safely. Thus, he would begin farming in the wild, near what used to be MoD tower (now Master Li's dojo).

Upon beginning his epic quest of amassing 2500 gralats for a basic horse, Xinke was faced with a group of PKers of the guild "TR0N". These PKers harassed him the moment he arrived in the farming area, forcing him to either retaliate or be food for the other Graalians. Thus, he began killing PKers whenever he saw them, in a sort of vengeance. He took up the name of "Hunter of the Dark" to illustrate his tendency to attack PKers. Xinke's skills as a PKer quickly developed, as he forced himself to attack players much better at the game than itself. His player kills numbered less than 300 at the time, yet he faced opponents with more than 2000 kills. Eventually, Xinke adapted to the TR0N members' skills and managed to fight them off fairly.

Around the 20th of July, Xinke would invite one of his real life friends to play Graal. They would manage to get a horse together and form a small guild. However, three days later, his friend would tell him that "he was bored of the game" and that "it had no content, no quests, nothing to do". Xinke stayed a bit longer, thinking it was about time he go on an adventure. With the help of his trusty mount, he would travel the entirety of Graal...in less than an hour. Disappointed, both in the time spent getting the horse and in the size of the map, he told himself that he would quit Graal the next day if he found nothing interesting.

The next day, the 24th of July, Xinke ventured in Graal City through the most western entrance. There, he would meet Auel and the Royal Guard, who were in the middle of a recruitment rally. A man named "Kycle the Great" messaged him.

Kycle: "What do you want to be?"

Xinke: "I want to be a knight."

Kycle: "Very well."

And just like that, Xinke was recruited to the Royal Army, a branch of the Royal Guard. He would not know, but this guild would make him stay in Graal for 4 years, spanning his entire time in highschool.

The Royal Guard

After being recruited in the Royal Army, Xinke was immediately ordered to the castle in order to defend the Royal Family from PKers. Obviously, he was very thrilled, having finally something to do. However, as he arrived to the castle, he realized that this new guild wasn't all roses. Firstly, he was ordered to do a very boring job: guard duty. If he did not comply, he would be kicked. Secondly, he was assigned under Kentiman, a commander known for his intolerance of new players. Finally, while Xinke could fight off enemies with roughly 2000 kills, he could not fight against the towerers that had well over 10000 kills. Yet, even with all these negatives, he loved the Royal Guard. He had a purpose. He had a duty. He was important, to some degree, and that was all that mattered. So, everyday, he would log on to Graal Online Classic for a good three to four hours and guard the throne room of the castle. Not once did he complain, and not once did he disobey the authority. He was the perfect foot soldier; gullible, hard-working, a quick learner and most of all, active. So, in the few days that he was in the Royal Guard, he managed to catch Margrave Auel's attention. At the time, Xinke still had his name of "Hunter of the Dark", a long and easily forgettable name. He also a terrible look. Thus, he asked Auel to name him. The Margrave threw names at him, some mythological, one biblical, and finally, he said "Xinke". To him, it was perfect; quick, short, easy to remember and unique. Thus, "Hunter of the Dark" became Xinke. With this new name, he changed his look to a more knight-like appearance.

During his time in the Royal Guard, Xinke became acquainted with a few officers of the Royal Guard. At the time, all officers were either of royal origins or they were guild leaders. Thus, he began to talk to individuals such as Kentiman, Warclaw, Zearos, Harau, Ryzallion, The Wandering Troubadour, Eazallar, King Auel and Margrave Cordias/Auel. Some of them, he disliked, some of them, he liked. His opinions were mostly superficial, since being a common soldier, he was not yet important. Some, like the Margrave, already sensed some potential. Others, like Harau, did not care about royal grunts, especially at the time of the split between Imperia and the Basceys that would later lead to the First War. However, with everyday that passed, his skills as a warrior improved, and so did his value. Eventually, days before the first Graal Sparring Tournament, Xinke was accepted in the GST team of the Royal Guard as a sub, as a sort of mark of respect for his combat skills. By that point, he had roughly 1000 kills, 500 of them coming from defending the throne room.

Soon after the GST, Margrave Auel, who had succeeded King Auel after the latter's death, would propose a plan, to revolutionize the Royal Guard and create something greater, something better than just a Royal Family and a couple of soldiers. It would be an idea, an eden, a force for good, a player-run government. That idea was Imperia.

The First Imperia

Before Imperia was made, there was a lot of controversy on the topic. Much like how the State had a lot of controversy when it first started, Imperia was originally deemed a stupid idea. Most Royals deemed Imperia an impossible endeavor, a sort of wild fantasy, while a very small minority thought it was a good idea. Xinke belonged to the former clan. Originally, he thought that Imperia was biting more than you could chew. The Royal Family and the Royal Guard were doing fine, always growing slightly, reaching previously unheard of numbers at roughly 7-10 people online at any time. Imperia just seemed like a good way to disorganize all this and destroy the established order. Some people even thought of rebelling, thus forcing Auel to keep the Royal guilds. However, Auel maintained that Imperia would work, and that the empire had been well planned. And so, people trusted him, and they were not disappointed.

At first, Imperia would have its branches created by competent individuals of the Royal Guard and Royal Army, so that the Royal guilds would only be transferred later. So, individuals such as Xinke, Warclaw and others were promoted to the rank of Captain. Imperian Captains were chosen for their activity, fighting skills, loyalty and most of all, their will to improve. Margrave Auel met with each captain personally to announce their promotion to them and give them his congratulations. Later, Zaer, who was chosen as the King of Imperia for his knowledge in the ways of nobility, would publicly announce the new captains of Imperia.

On launch day, the King and the chosen captains allied their guilds and started working on their guilds. Though it would not be formally said, Imperia was based upon a series of ideals that would lead spearhead its rocket during the years 2011 and 2012. Firstly, Imperia would be based on several traditional Christian values. Such values included justice, glory, retribution and order. Secondly, Imperia would be based around kingdoms of the Middle Ages, with a strong ruling monarchy and a small, well-trained army. It would also have in its later stages citizens of Imperia, who would live under royalty. Thirdly, the Royal Army, Royal Guard and Royal Family would be parts of Imperia, and as such there would always be an elite guild, a Kingdom-esque guild and the remaining allies would serve as shock troops. This ideal of Imperia would be more prominent as time went on. Fourthly, Imperia would work to assimilate similar minded guilds in the hope of creating a player-run government. Small time guild leaders would be made princes and princesses if deemed intelligent enough. Finally, Imperian captains and commanders would be left alone in managing their guilds. As such, they could choose their own rank systems (with some ranks mandatory for everyone), manage their member base, and could choose their own theme. This highly liberal approach allowed the royalty and high officers of Imperia to focus on driving Imperia based on objectives, not on how many members were in each guild. If ever a captain or commander became inactive or incompetent, he would simply be kicked out of the alliance and deemed a non-threat, especially since he had just demonstrated he could never amass troops.

When Xinke was first told he was being given an Imperian guild, he was quite thrilled. At this point in time, he had come to look up to Auel and the commanders, even his own commander, Kentiman. He wished he could one day be worthy of the title "Commander" and be invited to the high officer meetings. As such, he saw this guild as both an excellent opportunity and fun endeavor. However, he lacked a very important trait to manage his guild: charisma. Xinke, at least at this point in time, was not very charismatic, and the high degree of freedom of Imperia acted as a double-edged sword that would force him to manage his own guild without anybody's help. As such, he titled his guild "The Imperial Cavalry" (since back then Imperian guilds were called Imperial) and began recruiting as much as possible. The new captain recruiting a mere 5 active members before the end of Imperia. Part of the problem consisted in Xinke's high standards, the other part being a lack of charisma and people skills. However, other Imperian captains had success. They managed to keep a stable 15-20 people at all times, with some members more active than others. The Kingdom guild, simply titled "Imperia", was reserved for the eventual transfer of the Royal Family to Imperia, and was thus simply composed of Auel and Zaer.